


when the day appears

by Rupzydaisy



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: (still) love at first sight (in 500 years), Canon Divergent, F/F, Post Film
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:56:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27284545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rupzydaisy/pseuds/Rupzydaisy
Summary: There’s a yellowing bruise on Andromache’s cheek, and it drags her back to the long hours chained up and waiting for sunlight, waiting for the pins in the wall to give way. It takes her back to Lykon dying on the battlefield and how the suddenness of it had been accompanied by overwhelming grief.It is a recollection made unwillingly. A reminder that they had not fought hard enough to escape the so-called witch finders until it was too late, and by then, they were trapped.Her dry lips part, and Quynh says the first full sentence she's been thinking of since she stepped foot on land again. “I have been waiting for this for a long time.”Before that, it had only been a wild scream choked off by salt water.“I know you have.” Her eyes dart away, the line of her neck twists, and Quynh sees that she still wears her gifted necklace. “I have too.”
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko
Comments: 4
Kudos: 62
Collections: The Old Guard Femslash Fortnight 2020





	when the day appears

**Author's Note:**

> friday prompt for togfemslash fortnight - fave trope  
> (still) love at first sight (in 500 years)  
> title from sara bareilles' orpheus (and if that's not an andromaquynh reunion song I don't know what is)

"Quynh."

The fading echo of her voice had haunted her in their separation was nothing compared to the rich sound that she hears now. The memory of her smile, the feel of her hand, the press of her lips, Quynh had clung onto whatever she could, and the rest had turned into bubbles. 

She had shed any fear she had for herself early on, _what was there to fear when the worst had happened_ , and then the constant cycle of dying and reviving had only left space for anger in those fleeting moments of awareness. It kept her warm even while knowing that the men who put her there are long dead.

There was no space for dreams or nightmares. Only an uncountable number of last gasps and the burning desire to reach the surface. 

Although her eyes are fixed on Andromache, a lifetime beyond the inside of her iron prison calls back to well-honed instincts. She can see the uncertainty in Yusuf and Nicky underneath their relief of seeing her whole and here and it is also mirrored in their newest, Nile. She stands behind Andromache, solid and unblinking as Quynh steps forward slowly. 

If the signal were given now, they would close ranks around Andromache in a heartbeat.

Quynh would expect nothing less. 

But they don't protest, even if they are on edge at her sudden appearance and she knows the reason why. It makes her stomach churn like the waves she's left behind, despite being prepared for it. 

There’s a yellowing bruise on Andromache’s cheek, and it drags her back to the long hours chained up and waiting for sunlight, waiting for the pins in the wall to give way. It takes her back to Lykon dying on the battlefield and how the suddenness of it had been accompanied by overwhelming grief. 

It is a recollection made unwillingly. A reminder that they had not fought hard enough to escape the so-called witch finders until it was too late, and by then, they were trapped. 

Her dry lips part, and Quynh says the first full sentence she's been thinking of since she stepped foot on land again. “I have been waiting for this for a long time.” 

Before that, it had only been a wild scream choked off by salt water. 

“I know you have.” Her eyes dart away, the line of her neck twists, and Quynh sees that she still wears her gifted necklace. “I have too.” 

When Andromache moves forward, bridging the last gap between them, she is enveloped by the acceptance of whatever was coming next; the warrior woman has the courage of a lion that’s lasted her across the years. There was no foe she needed to brace herself for, nothing that made her axe falter.

Not like Quynh, who now finds it it's hard to look at the guilt in her eyes.

She wants nothing more than to replace it with the brightness she remembers, to ease away the tried slump of her shoulder and allow Andromache to share her burdens. _Your guilt is unjustified. My anger couldn't melt iron or part waves,_ she thinks and feels the same pain, the same guilt, in her heart.

No, Andromache would never have turned away no matter what Quynh would have brought to her door. 

Just knowing that hadn’t changed makes all the brittle pieces of herself that she’d fished out from the water and pieced back as she walked upland rattle less, because there is no home, no hearth, no corner of land that she can call her own after all this time. There is only Andromache. 

“Five hundred years, I am told.” Quynh whispers, reaching out a hand that seeks hers out, and holds on tight. “I had lost hope only once, but never since finding you, Andromache." 

Quynh breathes, and this is the breath she had been waiting to take ever since she had found her escape from the dark depths of the ocean, it washes over her, through her, and out float her fears and worries. 

Although she’s standing, boots on the floor, hands wrapping tight around Andromache’s back, she’s only grounded by the feeling of Andromache’s skin pressed up against her shoulder, her neck, her arms winding around her waist and holding on just as tight.

"It’s been too long without you." Andromache whispers back. “Too long, my heart.” 

The distance between them finally closes. Quynh breathes again, breathes her in, and the coldness of the water and the pain of her separation begins to fade. There’s a small part deep within her that sparks alight again. The warmth spreads within her, filling her chest and spreading outwards. It’s everything she’s clung to in the dark and more. 

Andromache shudders around her. Then her hands are reaching up to hold Quynh’s face, to stroke her back, to clasp at her shoulders and hold her tight. “You and me.” 

“Until the end.” Quynh promises anew with her next breath, her smile matching Andromache's and the depth of her love shining in those beautiful sea green eyes.

There’s hot tears streaming down her face as she remembers the sound of those same words said so long ago. She tightens her hold as much as she can despite feeling the weight of Andromache’s mortality around her, because they are impossible things made possible; near-immortals finding their way to each other over and over again. 

And there are other distances to cross and a new world to navigate, but for now Quynh loses herself completely in her love's arms. 


End file.
